My Story
I started my first business in 7th grade—an underground candy operation that got me in trouble with the school but earned me a reputation for entrepreneurial hustle. By 9th grade, they let me open, run, and staff an official school store to sell school branded merch.
Turns out, schools appreciate the spirit more when there's permission involved. It was also more fun because it meant more people could be involved. I learned early: when you build something, you're really building a community around it.
That early love of building things led me into the music industry. In college, I co-founded Audio Park Productions: artist management, recording, and live event production. We were profitable, scrappy, and decided to give back by funding scholarships for high school students pursuing the arts.
I learned that growing a business and giving back weren't separate goals. They fed each other. The more we invested in the community, the more the community invested in us. A virtuous cycle was created and I loved it.
That ethos carried me to Apple, a culture where people and impact are the ultimate guiding principles. I spent years leading sales, service, and technical teams of 30+ people. It was also my first time managing managers. My reputation changed from hitting numbers to building teams that performed without burning out, and developing people leaders.
Because of this, Apple selected me to develop training for an all-new retail role and eventually become a Global Trainer, supporting new store openings worldwide. I was doing what I loved most, helping people thrive even when the path forward wasn't clear. Seeing them gain clarity and generate intrinsic confidence was—and still is—the reward for the work.
That pull toward coaching and development brought me to HubSpot during their hyper-growth era. I joined Customer Education and quickly moved into leading the Management & Leadership Development team. Over seven years, I worked with an audience that grew from 250 to 1,200+ global people leaders. My team grew from 2 to 12 and spanned the globe which brought in serious advantages and also some new challenges.
I saw what happens when companies scale fast and across the globe. Some leaders stepped up, others struggled quietly, some burned out hard. I also had the privilege of building teams and systems to help leaders develop their skills, confidence, and resilience to keep HubSpot growing.
More importantly, I learned that there's no single playbook. My way and your way are different and each has virtues and liabilities. But, every leader has to figure out their own way forward. My job became helping them see their situation clearly and choose their next move.
Now I'm the Director of Learning & Development at Ripple, leading onboarding, leadership development, performance programs, and executive coaching with a global team advancing what learning and development looks like as we live through yet another paradigm shift in how work gets done.
Through my 2 decades of experience, collecting degrees, and earning certifications, two truths kept showing up: (1) you can't separate who you are from how you lead and (2) I'm meant to be a coach, not a mentor.
I'm not here to hand you my playbook or tell you "this is how I did it." I haven't been a VP. I haven't walked your exact path. If the path is clearly laid out, it isn't your path.
I started Reverie Leaders because coaching is what I'm meant to do. I'm here to help you recognize patterns, ask better questions, see what you can't see on your own, and blaze whatever trail you're on.
You can be completely honest and completely yourself with me. In fact, it works better when we're real with each other. My job isn't to make you perfect. It's to help you achieve your dreams in life and work, for you, your teams, and the people you care about most.
I'm a Co-Active trained coach, NASM-certified personal trainer, and certified in The Energy Project's People Fuel methodology, plus a stack of other certifications. If you want the full list, check out my LinkedIn.
My Values
These five values guide everything I do in coaching, in work, and in life. They're not just principles I believe in. They're how I show up. Not only will you see these from me in our work together—I'll help you live your values or define them. Living in alignment with our values is key.
Reverie
The work we do is important and meaningful. But we should also enjoy it. Some of our best ideas come when we relax our focus and remember why we love the work in the first place. When I take a long walk without headphones, no podcast, no agenda—that's when the best ideas float to the top. Reverie isn't about checking out. It's about getting lost in something you care about and letting your mind wander just enough to see what emerges.
Panorama
Zoom out. See the big picture. Get the mountaintop view. Then zoom back in. This ability to shift perspective—to see the forest and the trees—is critical for sustainable success. There's also something restorative about it. Looking at a wide horizon, taking in the full landscape, helps us process complexity and find clarity. It's not just strategic. It's good for your brain.
Harbor
I grew up in Gloucester, Massachusetts, and the harbor was everything. It was where boats came not just for safety, but for repair, connection, and rest before heading back out to sea. Tough work. Deep camaraderie. Real people. That's what I want to create in coaching—a place where you can be fully honest, fully yourself. A place to repair what's broken, improve what's working, and recharge before you head back out. The harbor isn't the destination. It's where you prepare for the journey.
Rhythm
You can't be on all the time. Music works because of the silence, the crescendos, the notes played and the notes left out. The harmony with others. Being a person is the same. You need rhythm—activity and rest, intensity and recovery, sound and silence. Without rhythm, you burn out. With it, you build something sustainable.
Pathfinder
I've been living on my own since I was 15, figuring out my own path. That experience shaped me. Every path is uniquely your own, and I want to help you blaze yours the way others helped me. This is why I love coaching. I'm not here to tell you which trail to take. I'm here to help you find it.
How I Work
My approach is built on a methodology I call OMNI—a framework for observing your patterns, mapping what's working (and what isn't), navigating forward with intention, and integrating changes that stick. It's part process, part philosophy. You can read more about it on the coaching page, but here's the core idea:
You can't separate who you are from how you lead. Your energy, habits, relationships, values, and even your physical well-being all impact your performance. So we look at the whole picture. We talk about work, life, stress, sleep, movement, relationships—all of it. Because when one area suffers, the rest follow. And when one area improves, it creates a virtuous cycle that lifts everything else.
This whole-person approach isn't just nice to have. It's how sustainable high performance actually works. You can't pour from an empty cup, but you also can't fill the cup if you're ignoring what's draining it. My job is to help you see the full system and make changes that compound over time.
Beyond The Work
Music has been a huge part of my life since I was a kid. I co-founded a music production company in college, and I still think about how much teamwork and psychological safety matter in creative work. Making music with others requires vulnerability, trust, and the ability to navigate group dynamics without a traditional leader. It taught me everything about collaboration and performance under pressure.
Weightlifting taught me something different: there are no shortcuts. You can't pay for results, cheat for them, or negotiate for them. You have to do the work. That principle shows up everywhere in coaching.
Outside of work, I'm usually outside—hiking, walking the dog with my wife, or traveling somewhere new. I also love Halloween. Not just the costumes (though my wife makes incredible ones), but the whole vibe: neighbors decorating together, building things, getting creative, not taking life too seriously. It's a reminder that play and creativity matter just as much as the serious stuff.
I'm glad you're here. If you want to explore working together, I'd love to connect.
Talk soon,
Nick